Sliding panel partition



' Feb. 22, 1966 Filed June 6. 1961 J. W- GLASER SLIDING PANEL PARTITION4 Sheets-Sheet 1 k E i t S 5 b 7 2 T x 15 l6 5 I...

FIG I 6 5 I k E k a Q q S i N W 5 h INVEN TOR.

JAME W. GLASER bhwmmakyfiomwllg ATTORNEYS Feb. 22, 1966 J. w. GLASERSLIDING PANEL PARTITION 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 6, 1961 INVENTOR.

JAME W. GLASER ATTORNEYS Feb. 22, 1966 J. w. GLASER SLIDING PANELPARTITION 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 6, 1961 FIG 9 R M E NS E A l- NG wE M iv Y B 3 wm (lberlirmmdzgdlmmllg FlGll ATTORNEYS Feb. 22, 1966 J. w.GLASER SLIDING PANEL PARTITION 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 6. 1961 FIGI4 INVENTOR.

JAME W. GLASER ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,235,915 SLIDING PANELPARTITION Jame W. Glaser, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, assignor to The E. F.Hansel-man Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed June 6,1961, Ser. No. 115,209 8 Claims. (Cl. 2019) This invention relates asindicated to a sliding panel partition, and more particularly to amovable partition especially suitable for employment in schools and thelike where it may be desired temporarily to divide a large room or otherspace and then quickly and easily to shift the partition to one sidewhen it is desired to utilize the entire spacefor a single purpose.

In order to provide for more flexible use of available space in schoolbuildings, auditoriums, meeting rooms and the like, it is increasinglybecoming the practice to provide large areas adapted to be temporarilydivided or partitioned off into a series of adjoining rooms depending onthe size of the groups utilizing various portions of such area. Thewell-known folding door type of partition has customarily been employedfor such purpose, successive panel sections being hinged together andsuspended from an overhead track so that the partition may be folded andshifted along the track to one side of the room with the successivepanels vertically stacked against one side wall of the room. When thepartition is of any very great length, however, it thus becomesnecessary bodily to shift substantially the entire partition at onetime, and this may become both heavy and unwieldy. Furthermore, suchfolding partitions have not provided an adequate acoustical barrierbetween the adjoining room areas thus divided, there being su'bstantialsound leakage through the hinged joints even when the panels themselvesare adequately soundproofed. The necessary supporting mechanism hassometimes been unsightly and has usually been quite expensive. It hasordinarily also not been feasible readily to separate the panels of suchpartitions .to provide door openings and the like at selected positionswhile leaving the balance of the partition in place.

In view of the foregoing, it is a principal object of this invention toprovide a novel sliding panel partition mounted in a manner tofacilitate stacking of the panels against a side wall and subsequentreturn of such panels into .operative position forming the partition.

Another object is to provide such partition, the in dividual panels ofwhich will be strong and rigid, yet easily manually movable into desiredposition.

Still another object is to provide a supporting track arrangement forthe panel-s of relatively inexpensive construction and avoidingemployment of switches or the like commonly used when swinging suchpartition panels into stacking position.

A further object ,is to provide a stacking arrangement for such panelswhereby the latter may be shifted into and out ,of such stacked positionthrough engagement of only one vertical edge portion thereof.

Yet another object is to provide novel sealing means for interengagingabutting vertical edge portions of adjacent panels in a manner to affordrigidity to the panel construction and to form a barrier to the passageof sound while at the same time constituting a decorative trim orfeature strip adapted to serve as handle means for manipulating thepanels and bumper means slightly to space the panels when stacked.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said inventionthen comprises the features herein- 3,235,915 Patented Feb. 22, 1966"ice after fully described and paiticularly pointed out in the claims,the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth indetail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these beingindicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which theprinciple of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of a sliding panel partition in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary end elevation of such partition illustrating thepanels thereof stacked at one end;

FIG. 3 is an elevation of such partition similar to FIG. 1 showing oneof the many arrangements of the panels;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary mirror image plan view of the ceiling tracksemployed with the illustrated embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken subst-antially on theline 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section taken substantially on the line66 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary elevation of a single panel unit of such slidingpanel partition;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of the end or door panelof the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a similar enlarged fragmentary detail view of the opposite endpanel;

FIG. 10 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 10-10 ofFIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section of the ceilingtracks taken substantially on the line 1111 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary vertical section of one of the ceiling trackstaken substantially on the line 1212 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 13 is an.enlarged fragmentary vertical section of an alternativepreferred form of bottom guide track for the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary horizontal section of such sliding panelpartition; and

FIG. 15 is an alternative form of ceiling track for the presentinvention.

Referring now to the annexed drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1,there is shown an end elevation of a sliding panel partition inaccordance with the present invention. Such partition extends betweenthe ceiling 1 and the floor 2 and between side walls 3 and 4. Variablewidth jambs 5 and 6 may be employed between the end panels and therespective side walls, and such partition may include a door panel 8 onone end thereof having a recessed ring pull and latch assembly 7 on eachside thereof to facilitate opening of such panel. The remaining panels9, 10, 1.1, 12, 1'3 and 14 may, for example, be 48 inches wide and withsuch panels, 46 x 54 inch tack boards of chalk board units 15 and 16 maybe secured directly to the face of panels 9 and 10.

As seen in FIG. 2, all the panel units may be slid along upper and lowertracks recessed within the ceilingl and the floor 2, respectively, to bestacked in a group at :the left of the open space between the sidewalls3, 4 and the ceiling 1 and floor 2. Since the panel units may be onlyslightly more than 2 inches in thickness, for example, it will be seenthat when the units are .stacked side-by-side adjacent the wall 3 thatvery little of such open space will be obscured.

FIG. 3 illustrates the flexibility of the panel arrangements obtainablewith the present invention wherein the door panel 8 and the initialadjacent panel 9 have been stacked side-by-side to form an accessopening as shown at 17. All of the panels 10 through 14 may then be slidto the left to form another access opening as shown at 18 to provide, ineffect, two door openings within the partition wall. It will now beunderstood that any of a variety of arrangements may be employed whereinsome of the panels may be stacked as shown and some extended along thetracks provided in the floor and ceiling to create any partitionarrangement desired.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is illustrated a mirror image of theceiling tracks which support the panels of the present invention forsliding movement from the extended to the retracted or stacked position.As seen in FIG. 12, each of the panel units is supported by a front andback hanger as shown at and 21 with each hanger being provided with aroller 22 and 23, respectively. The roller 22 on the leading hanger 20on each panel is vertically spaced above the roller 23 on the trailinghanger 21 of each panel. Although horizontally spaced, the rollers are,however, aligned in the same vertical plane. The roller 22 of theleading hanger rides within a top track 24 and the roller 23 of thetrailing hanger rides within a lower track 25 and, as seen more clearlyin FIG. 4, the bottom track 25 extends substantially normal to the walls3 and 4 and almost completely therebetween. However, the top track 24for the majority of its travel extends directly above the track 25, butadjacent the wall 3, the top track 24 is provided with an S-shape curveas shown at 26. This curve terminates in a straight portion 27 which isat a slight angle to the lower track 25. Since the trailing hangers 21will be riding in the lower track 25 and the leading hangers 20 will beriding in the top track 24, it can be seen that as the panel 9 is movedto the left in FIG. 1, it will assume the dotted line position as shownat 9 in FIG. 4 adjacent the door panel unit 8. However, since the toptrack 24 is provided with the S-curve and diverges as shown at 27, theleading brackets of each of the succeeding panels 10, 11, etc. will beslightly spaced closer to the trailing hanger as shown at the dottedline position 30 in FIG. 7. In this manner, the panels may be stacked inthe compact package shown more clearly in phantom lines in FIG. 4. TheS-shape curve 26 in the illustrated embodiment of the present inventionmay, for example, start to curve away from the lower track approximately48 inches from the end of door panel 8 adjacent wall 3. It will, ofcourse, be understood that such tracks may diverge at either or bothends of the partition and accordingly such panels may be shoved eitherway for storage.

The door panel unit 8 may be provided with a trailing hanger as is thepanel 9 in FIG. 7, but the leading hanger as shown at 32 in FIG. 8 willbe provided with a roller 33 riding on track 34 extending normal to thetrack 25 and parallel to the wall 3. Since the hanging brackets arefreely vertically pivotally mounted on the panels as shown, for example,at 35 in FIG. 8, it will be understood that the door panel 8 may beopened by pulling the recessed ring of latch 7 toward the viewer in FIG.1 which will then cause the end of the panel adjacent the wall to movetoward the viewer with the roller 33 riding along the track 34. Thehanger roller assembly on the other end of the panel will move along thetrack 25 toward the wall 3 to position the door unit 8 as shown in thephantom line position in FIG. 4. The next panel unit may be pushed alongthe tracks so that the leading hanger will follow the track 24 and thetrailing hanger will then follow the track 25 to swing the panel to thestacked position as shown at 9 in phantom lines in FIG. 4. Similarly,the other panels may be moved to the left along the track to be stackedas shown.

The rail 34 normal to the rail 25 may be held by brackets as shown at 36(note FIG. 6) which brackets may include an angle bracket 37 secureddirectly to the wall 3 by means of a tampin 38 and a member 39 fastenedto the member 37 by a nut and bolt assembly 40, the track 34 beingsuspended and fastened securely to the member 39 as shown at 41.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 8, 9 and 14, it will be seenthat the door panel 8 abuts an adjustable 4- jamb 5 and the end panel 14abuts an adjustable jamb 6. The adjustable jamb 5 for door panel 8comprises a channel member 50 having a longitudinally extending recessin the bight portion thereof through which a screw or like fastener 51is employed to secure such channel in 'a tampin 52 in the wall 3. Asound seal 53 such as a strip of foamed elastomeric material, forexample, may be employed within the recess to seal any possible soundleaks between the channel 50 and the wall 3. A web 54 is marginallyvertically flanged and secured between the legs of the channel 50 as byspot-welding or the like and to the center of such web there is securedan internally threaded nut 55 through which passes an adjusting screw56. The adjusting screw passes through channel member 57, the legs ofwhich fit over the legs of the channel member 50. Spot-welded to theoutside of the legs of the channel 57, there is provided the wallmembers 58 and 59 which are folded inwardly upon themselves as shown at66 and 61. The outer ends of such wall portions are flanged with thewall 58 being rebent as shown at 62 to join with the flanger portion 63of the wall 59. A jamb nut 64 may be threaded on the outer end of theadjusting screw 56 and it will now readily be seen that the jambcomprises an inner fixed member composed of the channel 50 and the web54 with the nut 55 secured thereto, and an outer adjustable membercomposed of the channel 57' with the jamb wall members 58 and 59 securedthereto. Adjustment of the adjusting screw 56 will then readily positionthe outer edge of the jamb wall a desired distance from the wall 3. Therebent portion 62 of the jamb wall 58 accommodates a gasket assembly 65held thereto by a screw 66. As seen in FIG. 8, there may be several suchadjusting screws 56 vertically spaced throughout the vertical extent ofthe jamb assembly properly to hold the outer portion of the jamb in theproper adjusted spaced relation from the wall 3.

As seen in FIG. 14, the sealing member 65 secured to the jamb assembly 5by means of the screws 66 may comprise a neoprene member 67 whichsurrounds a central metal vertically extending frame or skeleton 68 withthe outer end of the frame being flanged or bent as shown at 69. Theneoprene member snugly fits about each end of the metal member 68 withthat portion about the end opposite to the flange snugly fitting withinthe rebent portion 62 of the jamb wall 58. The portion of the sealingmember about the flange 69 is provided with a contact rib 70 adapted toengage the outer wall portion 71 of the door panel 8. Also, such gasketis provided with three vertically extending flexible ribs showngenerally at 72 which engage the end wall 73 of the panel 8 when thepanel is in the position shown in FIG. 14. A sealing assembly 75identical in form to the sealing assembly 65 is secured to the end wallof the panel 8 with the screw 76 thereof serving not only to hold thegasket assembly to the end wall of the door panel, but also to hold theside wall members 71 and 77 together, such walls being lapped as shownat 78. It can now be seen that simply by pulling on the latch and ringassembly 7, the end of the door panel 8 will move in the direction ofthe arrow 80 in FIG. 14 with the ribs 70 on the sealing members servingas stops in the closed position.

As seen in FIG. 14, the outer end wall of the panel 8 is formed bybending the walls 71 and 77 with the wall 71 being rebent as shown at 81and lapped with an end flange 82 of the wall 77 as shown at 83. Thus theend of the panel wall 71 extends considerably beyond the end flange 82of the panel wall 77 to form an L-shape end to the panel. A soundsealing assembly 84 is held to the panel 8 by means of screws 85 passingthrough the lapped end marginal portions of the walls 71 and 77. Theassembly 84 is generally similar to the sealing assembly 65, butincludes a central frame member 86 having both ends flanged with thesealing member 87 completely enclosing both of such flanges. Theneoprene seal is diagonally shaped as shown at 88 completely to. fill. te

angled recess between th rebent portion 81 of the wall 71 and the lappedmarginal end plates of such wall. The outer end of the seal is moldedabout the flange 89 and is slightly undercut as shown at 90 whereengaging the edge of wall 91 of the adjacent panel. A series of flexibleribs 92 engage the extending end wall 93 of the adjacent panel 9 withthe wall 91 being substantially identical in form to the wall 71 of thepanel 8 on the opposite side thereof. A sealing assembly 94 identical inform to the assembly 84 is provided on the panel 9 to mate with theextending laterally offset portion of the panel 8. Similarly, theextended portion provided by the end wall of the wall 91 mates with thesealing assembly 84 on the panel 8. Accordingly, the joined panelsprovide a double inverted tongue-and-groove joint when in abuttingrelation. The flexible ribs on each sealing assembly engaging theopposed panel end wall provide a substantially completely sound sealedinter-panel joint. It can readily be seen that such joint is much moresoundproof than a conventional hinged joint even when provided withsound seals.

The end panel 14 is provided with a sealing assembly 95 which isidentical in form to the assembly 84. The end panel 14 mates with anadjustable jamb panel portion 96 which is the outer end of theadjustable jamb 6, such jamb panel assembly being substantiallyidentical in form to the end of a panel. The adjustable portion 96 ofthe jamb assembly 6 is provided with a sealing assembly 97 which isidentical in form to the assembly 95. Such assembly is secured to theinwardly bent portion 98 of the plate 99, and the plate 100 is flangedand locked with the end marginal portion of the plate 99 as shown at101. A web 102 is welded to the wall portions 99 and 100 and is providedwith a threaded jam nut 103 through which adjusting screw 104 isthreaded, such screw extending through nut 105 on web 106 extendingbetween the wall members 107 and 108. Such wall members are fittedbetween the legs of interior channel member 109 and exterior channelmember 110, such channel members being welded together and secured tothe wall 4 by screws 112 secured in tampins 113. The sound seal 114similar to seal 53 may be provided in a longitudinally extending recessin the channel 110 to seal the jamb 6 and the wall 4. Thus the assembly95 is adjustable with respect to the assembly provided by the plates 107and 108 and the interconnecting web 106 so that the distance between theouter end of the jamb assembly and the wall 4 may be adjusted asdesired. It will, of course, be understood that the end walls of thejamb assemblies may be provided with access openings so that a screwdriver or the like may readily be employed to adjust screws 56 and 104to determine the extent of the jamb assemblies.

It will also be understood that rockwool packing, for example, may beplaced within the interior of the jambs and the panels as shown toprovide a substantially soundproof assembly. Also, it is apparent thatthe sealing assemblies 84, 95, etc. provide the desired soundproof jointbetween the panels, provide a feature strip which may be preferably of adifferent color than the panels therebetween, and provide a handle orthe like by which the panels may readily be grasped and slid along therails to be stacked or adjusted as desired. Moreover, such laterallyextending gaskets serve as bumpers so that when the panels are stackedin side-by-side position as shown in FIG. 2, the surfaces thereof willnot be in contact and thus in any way marred. Moreover, the boards 15 or16 positioned on the surface of the panels will then be protected by thebumper function aflorded by the unique seals illustrated.

As seen in FIGS. 9 and 10, the end panel 14 which is exemplary of theother panels, may have its walls 120 and 121 bent at the top to form topsurface flanges 122 and 123 and then rebent to be clamped between nuts124 and 125 on threaded hanger stud 126. The hanger stud then not onlyserves to support the pivotally mounted hanger bracket 127 which carriesgrooved roller 128 riding on V-shape rail 25, but also serves to holdthe walls and 121 at the top thereof properly together and yet spaced.The bottoms of the walls are bent inwardly as shown at 130 and 131 andthen rebent as shown at 132 and 133 to form a flattened rubber or likestrip retaining groove or sealing strip 134. Such sealing strip isprovided with four downwardly extending flexible ribs 135 which engageand wipe along upstanding channel shape rail 136. In order to hold thepanel aligned with the upwardly projecting rail 136, there is provided achannel-shape guide 137 mounted on a pivot pin 138 which extends throughthe bottom of the panel into cylindrical guide or housing 139. A spring140 within such housing bears against the top of the pivot pin to holdthe channel-shape guide properly on the upstanding rail 136. It is notedthat the channel guide 137 is pivotally vertically aligned with thetrailing hanger on the panel assembly and in this manner, as will theother panels 9 through 13, be pivoted about this particular axisextending through the hanger and the bottom rail pivot by the movementof the leading hanger through the S-shape curve 26 in the rail 24. Thusthis pivot will always be confined to the horizontal plane formed by theparallel bottom rail and the rail 25.

The upstanding rail 136 is provided by the channel member 141 which ismounted on shims 142 within a recess in the floor 2.

Referring now to FIG. 11, it will be seen that the lower straight track25 and the upper curved track 24 may be securely fastened to the ceilingand preferably secured directly to a large I-beam as shown at 150. Thebeam will, of course, be encased in a fireproofing material such asconcrete as shown at 151 and nut and bolt assemblies 153 and 154extending through the beam flange may be employed to support asuspension bracket 155 composed of side plates 156 and 157 and top andbottom plates 158 and 159. Such plates may be welded or otherwisesecured together to form a hanging bracket and such hanging bracket issecured to a channel member 160 through nut and bolt assemblies 161 and162 with shims 163 being positioned between the plate 159 of the hangingbracket and the bight or back of the channel 160. The legs 164 and 165.of the channel 160 extend downwardly and are flanged inwardly with trimmembers 166 and 167 being secured to such flanged legs by suitablefasteners 168 and 169. As seen in FIG. 4, the trim members 166 and 167may extend completely along the partition with the exception of theopening 169 for the S- curve 26 and the opening 170 for the track 34extending normal to the track 25. The hangers, of course, will belongitudinally spaced along the partition as required to support thetracks and the weight of the rather heavy partitions suspendedtherefrom.

As seen in FIG. 11, the panel unit 9 may be suspended from the rails 24and 25 with the walls thereof rebent to form horizontally extending topflanges as shown at 171 and 172 with such flanges being rebent andclamped between the nuts threaded on the stud 173 of the hanging bracket21 (see FIG. 7). The top flanges may be held between the shakeproof lockwasher 174 and the channel member 176 which serves to retain and holdthe walls of the panel properly spaced and yet locked together. Thehorizontal top flanges provide contact surfaces for top seal members 177and 178, each of which are provided with three flexible downwardlyextending ribs as shown at 179 and 180 which engage and wipe along thehorizontally extending flanges 171 and 172 of the panel. The elastomericsealing strips are held in channels formed by the vertically adjustablesealing members 181 and 182 which are formed with vertically extendingslots through which screws 185 and 186 may be employed to fastenadjustably vertically such sealing strips to the trim members 166 and167.

The top rail 24 and the lower rail 25 are both supported from a bracket188 which may be provided with a top flange which is welded to theinside bight portion of the channel 160. Both of the rails may then bewelded or otherwise suitably secured directly to the bracket 188 in thevertically spaced relation shown.

The trim members 166 and 167 may be provided with upwardly extendingflanges 190 and 191 which serve to retain sheetrock or the like panels192 and 193 with the tops of such sheetrock panels being nailed towooden strips or the like which are cut to fit between the suspensionchannel brackets 155 as shown at 194 and 195. It will, of course, beunderstood that the upwardly extending flanges 190 and 191 on the trimmembers may be omitted and that the horizontally extending portionsthereof may be used to support an acoustical or like false ceilingsuspended beneath the beam 150.

Both of the tracks 24 and 25 have the same cross-sectional shape andboth are provided with top flanges as shown at 196. These top flangeshold the V-grooved rollers in proper engagement with the V-shape bottomflange of such rails as shown at 198. In this manner, the rollers withinthe rail cannot become derailed.

The suspension of the curved portion of the rail 24 may be accomplishedby a series of ceiling bracket assemblies shown at 200 as seen in FIGS.4 and 12, such assemblies including a ceiling plate 201 and a ceilingbracket 202 which is fastened through the ceiling plate directly to theplaster ceiling or the like by nut and bolt assemblies 203 and 204. Acover plate 205 may be held to the bracket by screws 206 and 207. Thebottom of the channel bracket 202 is provided with a reinforcing plateand a hanger rod 208 is threaded through nuts 209. The hanger rod isvertically adjustably secured to a hanger bracket 210 by nuts 211 and212 threaded thereon. Such hanger bracket includes members 213 and 214welded together to form a unitary assembly with the rail 24 beingsecured directly to the downwardly extending portion of the member 214.A trim member 215 is secured to the flanged downwardly projecting leg ofthe member 213 as shown at 216. It can now be seen that the panel 9, forexample, supported by the hangers 20 and 21 moving to the collapsed orfolded position shown in phantom lines in FIG. 4 will have its leadingedge guided by the curved track 24 with the roller 22 confined thereinand pivoting about the axis of the threaded rod 217 as shown at 218 sothat the roller 22 will readily follow the curve portion of the track.This then leads the leading end of the panel to the position shown inFIG. 4 while the trailing end follows the straight lower track 25 due tothe confinement of the roller 23 therein and the guide 219 holding thepanel on the bottom track, the panel pivoting about the axis of thetrailing hanger 21.

Referring now to FIG. 13, there is illustrated an alternative form ofbottom track and guide therefor. As seen, the floor is provided with arecess 220 with a channel member 221 being inserted therein. Suchchannel member has a central inverted channel 222 through which a screwor the like 223 may be employed to secure such channel to the floor withthe aid of a tampin 224. Shims may be employed properly vertically tospace the channel 221. On the top of the inverted channel 222 there areprovided shims 225 which may be employed to hold the channel guidestructure 226 at the proper vertical height where the top surfacethereof will be flush with the finished floor 227. Such guide comprisesa bottom web 228 forming the bottom of the guide 229 with side membersas shown at 230 and 231 secured to the downwardly extending edge flangesthereof forming the sides of the guide. A guide pin 233 may extendthrough the bottom of the channel from within a cylindrical housing 234with a spring 235 holding such round nose guide pin firmly within theguide channel 229. A retaining member 236 may be provided on the bottomof the panel to house a sound sealing strip 237 having a pair offlexible downwardly extending ribs on each side thereof adaptedresilmanner as shown in FIG. 11.

iently to engage and wipe the top surface of the channel guide members230 and 231 as the panel is moved therealong. Such strip may besubstantially identical in form to the bottom sealing strip shown inFIG. 10. In this manner, it can be seen that a complete sound seal willbe provided both at the top and bottom of the movable partition by thesealing strips having their plurality of flexible ribs bridging the topand bottom space between the panels thus precluding the passage of soundtherethrough.

In FIG. 15, there is illustrated an alternative form of track assemblywherein tubes 240 and 241 may be employed in place of the railsillustrated-in FIG. 11, for example. Such tubes may be secured to asuspension bracket 242 held to the bight portion of a channel shapehanger member 243 which may be suspended in the same Rollers 244 and 245pivotally mounted on hanging brackets 246 and247 may be provided witharcuate or semi-circular grooves more closely to mate and engage withthe cylindrical rails 240 and 241. It is noted that the rollers will, asin the FIG. 11 embodiment, be confined within the top flange members 248and 249 respectively so that they cannot be derailed during movement ofthe panel. The tubes may be secured directly to thebracket 242 bysuitable fasteners such as nut and'bolt assemblies shown at 250 and 251.Trim members 252 and 253 may be provided for a finished ceiling or tosupport suitable sheetrock or the like as shown in FIG. 11.

It can now be seen that there has been provided a unique sliding panelpartition in which the panels may readily be stacked against a side walland quickly and easily returned to an operative position forming apartition. The individual panels may be conventional panels which arequite heavy, strong, rigid and soundproof. Such panels may haverigidified metal face plates with a soundproofing material disposedtherebetween. In a soundproof partition if even a crack shows beneaththe door, the door might nearly as well be left open for all the soundbarrier it will provide. Accordingly, it can readily be seen that all ofthe potential sound leaks in the construction of the present inventionhave been sealed and an effective sound barrier has been provided in acompletely flexible sliding partition.

Other modes of applying the principles of the invention may be employed,change being made as regards the details described, provided thefeatures stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of suchbe employed.

I, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as myinvention:

1. An interior partition construction comprising a plurality ofindependently movable panels, laterally offset end extensions on theends of certain panels, and sound seal means laterally adjacent saidextensions adapted to receive therein said extensions on adjacentpanels, said sound seal means being U-shaped and said extensions andsound seal means being adapted to form a double tongue and groove jointtherebetween.

2. An interior partition construction comprising a plurality ofindependently movable panels, laterally offset end extensions on theends of certain panels, sound seal means laterally adjacent saidextensions adapted to receive therein said extensions on adjacentpanels, overhead rail means for suspending said movable panels, saidoverhead rail means comprising two rails vertically spaced one above theother, one said rail having a laterally directed curved end portionwhereby said panels can be swung around to be stacked substantiallynormal to the greater extent of said rails, and hanger means suspendingsaid panels from said rails, said hangers including rollers engagingsaid rails and vertical pivots, the end portion of said laterally offsetcurved track portion being inclined with respect to said other track,and said hangers of succeeding panels being spaced closer together,

3. An interior partition construction as set forth in claim 2 includingguide means in said floor parallel to said rail means, and meansprojecting downwardly from said panels engaging said guide means.

4. An interior partition construction as set forth in claim 3 whereinsaid downwardly projecting guide means is aligned with one of saidhanger means, and said guide means is parallel to the rail on which saidhanger means is supported.

5. An interior partition construction comprising a plurality ofindependently movable panels, laterally offset end extensions on theends of certain panels, and sound seal means laterally adjacent saidextensions adapted to receive therein said extensions on adjacentpanels, said sound seal means including laterally enlarged portionsextending beyond the faces of said panels adapted to be used as handlemeans to facilitate movement of said panels.

6. The interior partition construction set forth in claim 5 wherein saidsound seal means includes a metallic skeleton, and a series of flexibleoutwardly directed ribs adapted to engage end wall portions of opposedpanels.

7. A sliding partition construction comprising a series of panels, twovertically spaced rails one directly above the other supporting saidpanels for endwise movement, each said panel including longitudinallyspaced hangers for th us slidably supporting said panels on said railsdirectly there-beneath, one of said rails diverging from the otheradjacent an end of said partition and terminating in a portion at anangle to the other of said rails, the hangers of each succeeding panelbeing spaced according to the UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,448,845 3/1923Johnson et al. 2019 1,462,302 7/1923 Phillips 2019 2,162,104 6/ 1939Mosher 2069 2,198,436 4/ 1940 Hoifman 2052 2,299,573 10/ 1942 Fiarhurst2019 2,595,506 5/ 1952 Backman 1-89-46 2,706,837 4/ 1955 Jackson 20112,756,468 7/1956 Bright 2069 2,837,151 6/1958 Stroup 2065 2,942,5616/1960 Cheshire 160201 2,949,651 8/1960 Hill 2069 2,978,755 4/ 1961Walker 2016 3,034,575 5/1962 Stroup 160 FOREIGN PATENTS 77,296 7/ 1919Austria. 717,890 11/1954 Great Britain.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, NORTON ANSHER,

Examiners.

1. AN INTERIOR PARTITION CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING A PLURALITY OFINDEPENDENTLY MOVABLE PANELS, LATERALLY OFFSET END EXTENSIONS ON THEENDS OF CERTAIN PANELS, AND SOUND SEAL MEANS LATERALLY ADJACENT SAIDEXTENSIONS ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THEREIN SAID EXTENSIONS ON ADJACENTPANELS, SAID SOUND SEAL MEANS BEING U-SHAPED AND SAID EXTENSIONS ANDSOUND SEAL MEANS BEING ADAPTED TO FORM A DOUBLE TONGUE AND GROOVE JOINTTHEREBETWEEN.